Bed jacket



H E KEPHART ETAL 2,504,534

BED JACKET Flled March 11, 194'} mmflga 9%;

April 18, 1950 i atented Apr. 18,

UNITED STATES i' ATENT OFF 2,504,534 Bitn JACKET Assassins Maren 11, 194:1, strains. ratin 2 Claims;

Our invention res to a bed jac'liet' and in particular to abed ja'cliet for a sicl i person or a convalescent:

Orie of the principal objects of our invention is the provision of a ave bed-jacket which pern'iits freedom sphere ant to the wearer while simultaneously providing adequate coverage, protection and" warmth; A further object is the provision of an improved he'd-jacket which 7 y b easily and quickly put on andrenioved' from thbatent by an attending fi'lfsdfl'; 7

Arcane object is the provisionof a novel bedjacket which washable and which may be foldedinto a; compact bundle for storing;

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel bed-"jacket incorporating a portion which may be folded to provide a pocket utilizable for the stoiage of small objects.

Still another object-of the invention is to pro vide an improved bed jack-et which is very simple in construction which permits it to be made a ow cost whilesi'rnultanously providing an of the aforesaid sweets; V I

Other objects and advantages will become ap parent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the hcc'dinpanying drawings wherein Y 7 Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of our novel bed-jacket showing how a portion ofthe bedjacket may be folded to provide a her-nan pocket;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of our bed- J qk n h A. N

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bed-jacket spread 6ut in flat co'riditii'i'j aiid Fig. 4 is a sectional View on a greatly enlarged scale through the head and neck opening looking toward one side edge of the garment along the shoulder line.

Our novel bed-jacket referred to generally by the reference character It! is made from a Single piece of material [2 cut as shown generally in Fig. 3. The choice of material is not critical but the material should be selected with a view to the provision of a comfortable and warm garment which may be readily washed and folded. As an example of suitable materials for this type of garment we might mention quilted cotton, blanket material and flannel. And, if desired, it may be made with two or more thickness of material 12 as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The material 12 is cut so as to provide a front panel M, a rear panel l6, and sleeve-forming portions l8. The front panel i4 is integral with w In order that the garment may he sinuses oyef tlie seas of the wearer opening 24 is slit oiitwardly at 25 towardthe sleeve portions It; The neck openin 24 and the slits 26 are finished with an edge binding or tape 23 similar to the binding or tape 22. The" slits 2s closed and the garment is caused closely toht the neck of the wearer by a pair of tabs 30 arranged at either side of the neck opening 24 at the inner ends of the slits 261 The tabs 30 l are stitched at 32 to the inside or bottom of the front panel it along the binding 28. The tabs se extendv across the inner ends of the slits 26 and overlie the rear panel 16 to which they are secured by suitable snap fasteners 34;

It is preferred that the tabs 36 be sewed tothe front panel Id and secured by snap fasteners to the rear panel 55 to facilitate the removal of the garment from the wearer by an attending person or nurse who normally would face the sic}; person or convalescent while assisting him. It is readily appreciated that it is easier to unfas'ten the snap fasteners 3 by pulling on the free ends of the tabs 34} than by pushing and lifting them. In a similar manner the fastening of the, tabs in the direction shown by us is somewhat easier.

Our bed-jacket Id is adapted to cover the upper portion of the body of the wearer, that is, up from approximately the hips or waist. In order that the sides and sleeves of the garment may be closed about the body and arms of the wearer we have provided the peripheral edge of the garment along the binding or tape with snap fasteners 35 and 38. The fasteners 36 cooperate with the fasteners 38 to secure the marginal side edges M of the front panel i l to the corresponding marginal side edges l6 of the rear panel I6 and to secure the adjacent edges [8' of the sleeve portions l8 together (Figs. 1 and 2). The reference charactor 36 may indicate the female elements of the snap fasteners while the reference character 3 38 may indicate the corresponding male members.

By securing the snap fasteners 34, 36 and 38 to garment on the binding strips or tapes 22 and 28, these fasteners will not tear the body material I2 or pull loose from the jacket.

Fig. 3 shows the garment in condition to be put on the wearer with all of the fasteners 34, 36 and 38 being unsnapped. The garment is put over the head of the wearer and the tabs 30 adjacent the neck opening 24 are snapped. The marginal edges [4, iii of the back and front panels I4, I6, respectively, are joined at the sides of the person and the fasteners 36 and 38 are snapped together thus forming the body portion which encloses the upper part of the wearer's body. The under sides 18 of the sleeve portions iii are snapped together and the person may sit or recline in bed in perfect comfort and ease, being assured of sufficient warmth and freedom of movement.

Another feature of our invention is the provision of a marginal pocket 40 which may be formed at the front of the garment by portion 42 of the panel l4. It is seen from Fig. 3 that the front panel [4 is longer than the rear panel IE by about the depth of the pocket 40. The portion 42 is folded up and back upon itself and is secured to the outer face of the front panel 14 by snap fasteners 44 to form the pocket 40 which extends across the front of the jacket at the bottom edge. Children in particular like the convenience of this marginal pocket for use in holding pencils and crayons and small toys with which they like to play, particularly during the convalescent period of an illness. Adults also find this pocket handy for holding such things as handkerchiefs and other personal objects.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that we have provided a novel bedjacket which attains all of the objectives set out in the opening paragraphs of this specification. The garment of our invention is very quickly removable from or put on either by the wearer or by an attending person. This is particularly desirable in garments which are worn by sick persons or convalescents so that soiled garments can be changed with a minimum of effort and time. However, in providing the simplicity of construction we have not sacrificed either the warmth of the garment or the comfort which it affords to the wearer.

It is possible that others skilled in the clothing art will make changes and modifications in our garment without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. Therefore, we desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A bed-jacket comprising a front panel, a rear panel, sleeve-forming portions, said front and rear panels and said sleeve-forming portions being integral with each other, a head and neck opening at the center of the garment formed by a circular opening adapted closely to fit the neck of the wearer and a pair of sidewardly extending slits to enlarge the neck opening so that the garment may be slipped over the head of the wearer, the periphery of said opening and said slits being finished with an edge binding, means for closing said slits adjacent the neck of the wearer, said means comprising a pair of tabs positioned at the sides of said opening and at the inner ends of said slits, each of said tabs being sewed to said edge binding on the underside of said front panel, and fastening means for removably securing said tabs to said edge binding on the outer side of said rear panel, and means secured to the side for securing the front and back panels together at the sides of the wearer.

2. A bed-jacket comprising a front panel, a rear panel, sleeve-forming portions, said front and rear panels and said sleeve-forming portions being cut from a single piece of material, a head and neck opening at the center of the garment formed by a circular opening adapted closely to fit the neck of the wearer and a pair of sidewardly extending slits to enlarge the neck opening so that the garment may be slipped over the head of the wearer, a pair of tabs permanently secured to the underside of said front panel and adapted removably to be secured to the outer side of said rear panel so as to close the inner ends of said slits adjacent the neck opening, means secured to the side edges of said front and rear panels and the edges of said sleeve-forming portions to secure said side edges of said front panel to the corresponding side edges of said rear panel and to secure the adjacent edges of the sleeve-forming portions together, said front panel being longer than said rear panel, and means for securing the bottom edge of said front panel to the outer face thereof to form a marginal pocket from the longer portion of said front panel.

HELEN E. KEPHART. GERTRUDE H. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 921,439 McGowan May 11, 1909 2,388,926 Mirsky Nov. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 168,114 Switzerland June 1, 1934 

